Political firestorm encircling Iowa's Rep. Steve King rages on days before the election

“It doesn’t mean we stick our nose in the air in the world but it’s OK to puff our chest out a little bit. And I think (the Trump) administration is doing that,” U.S. Rep. Steve King said Feb. 23 after talking to constituents in Manson, Iowa.
William Petroski/The Register

Rep. Steve King talks to the media on Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2018, during an America First Policies event in Des Moines. (Photo: Kelsey Kremer/The Register)

Just days before Tuesday's election, U.S. Rep. Steve King remained mired in political controversy Wednesday with growing condemnation from Democrats, Republicans, and a host of others who accused him of hateful rhetoric and an extremist agenda.

King, an eight-term Iowa Republican from Kiron, has had a history of making controversial statements about race, immigration, LGBTQ issues and climate change and has repeatedly visited Europe and met with members of far-right political groups.

King represents Iowa's 4th Congressional District, which covers 39 counties in north-central and northwest Iowa, including Ames, Fort Dodge, Mason City and Sioux City. He has won eight terms, despite the controversy he has long attracted.

J.D. Scholten, the Democrat challenging U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Kiron, to represent Iowa's 4th Congressional District, speaks to a crowd in the Memorial Union at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, on Sunday, Oct. 21, 2018. Scholten was joined by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, of Vermont, who was in town to rally Iowa Democrats on Scholten's behalf.(Photo: Chris Jorgensen, via Iowa State Daily / Special to the Register)

That followed last week's decision by the Sioux City Journal to endorse Scholten. The Journal said each time King immerses himself in controversy, he holds up the district to ridicule and marginalizes himself within the legislative body he serves. The Journal had repeatedly backed King in past re-election campaigns.

The ADL's Greenblatt told Speaker Ryan in a letter that after years of offensive statements, "King has met with outright anti-Semitic organizations and individuals, giving them the imprimatur of legitimacy that comes with meeting with a member of Congress."

Greenblatt noted that during King's interview in Austria with Unzensuriert, the Iowa congressman raised the specter of Jewish philanthropist George Soros as being behind civil unrest and what King sees as the “Great Replacement,” a belief common among white nationalists that white Europeans are being replaced by minorities.

The meeting in Austria took place a day after King's five-day trip to Jewish and Holocaust sites in Europe, which was funded by From the Depths, a Holocaust memorial nonprofit.

"The massacre of 11 of our fellow Jews at prayer at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh has reminded us that silence in the face of anti-Semitism and hate is acquiescence. It is to enable it," Greenblatt wrote.

Democratic candidate for governor Fred Hubbell received big cheers at a Democratic rally Tuesday night in Cedar Rapids when he called for Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds to remove King as her campaign co-chair because of the congressman's inflammatory remarks.

“Time and again, we have seen Steve King spew hateful, divisive rhetoric, and we have seen Gov. Reynolds defend her campaign co-chair,” Hubbell said in a prepared statement.

Reynolds' aides did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday, and neither did Jeff Kaufmann, chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa. Kaufmann's aide, Jesse Dougherty, said the chair's previous statements stand.

Both Reynolds and Kaufmann have said they disagree with some of the things King has said or done but have continued to support the GOP congressman.